Day 2

Morning had the same routine; Ms. Fisher and I battled against the Sisyphean weight of her book bags and planned the day ahead; maths (well, adding up), more english (well, copying sentences) and then the afternoon spend doing P.E. (well...actually no, just P.E.) First period went well; while it was intermediate-level adding up, most of the children were able to get through it with time to spare, and the last few got out to break on time with a little help from yours truly. Nothing's quite as rewarding as actually passing on knowledge. The look of slow, dawning revelation on a little girl or boy's face when the problem before them reveals an answer? Amazing. I love this job.

English went the same as yesterday. The kids copied out the sentences. You wouldn't believe how hard they find this; getting the letters legible, getting the syntax right. It's mostly handwriting training but it really helps their grasp on writing, and on reading.

P.E. was actually really fun to watch. They were playing dodgeball in the main hall, but a weird variant involving benches and a kind of goalkeeper setup. Here's a diagram: 

Also there's only one ball. The best tactic, as far as I could tell, is to have two layers of people facing either way, one to catch from the advantageous position of the goalkeeper (who can't get out and is thus invulnerable, but can only stay on the bench they're standing on) and the other to catch stray shots from the floor team. Neither team managed to figure this out and it essentially became "anyone who gets the ball will get an out". Anyway, the kids all seemed to have fun, although they got VERY competitive. I certainly had an active goal as the referee...

Afterwards, I met up with Simon and some other friends. One of our friends is an ex-Jehova's Witness, and this is her first birthday with a party. Her girlfriend and another girl (she bakes. It's what she does. How she's not fat is beyond me) made her THIS:

It's a gay cake! Because she's, y'know, gay.

Yeah, I know it's kind of off to define her by one attribute, but that's how we roll. She's the gay one, her girlfriend's the ditzy one, I'm the ill one, Simon is the ginger, pretentious, inappropriate, poorly dressed one with the terrible diet and the unsavoury relationship with his computer. It's a delicate balancing act ;D (Love you lots, honest!)

Anyway, that's all I've got today. Bye all!